Water Awareness Week this Week

The next meeting is next week, Monday, April 13 at 5:00 pm in SMSU 229. Several regular members are unable to attend this term because of our starting time. We may alternate starting times for meetings to allow more participants. If we have half the meetings start later on Monday, will 6 or 6:30 work better for y'all?

We hired a Learning Garden Research Coordinator! We will introduce the new research coordinator next week.

Water Awareness Week - this week! April 6 - 10
Environmental Club's Take Back the Tap Campaign group is working to reduce plastic water bottle consumption on campus by selling Klean Kanteen water bottles at a subsidized price all week, raising awareness of the issues of water sustainability and the negative environmental impacts of plastic water bottles, and lastly, installing a tap water filtration system on campus. Come to the events this week to learn more on the issue!

Tuesday, Apr 7
Blind Water Taste Tests
Tables between Smith and Neuberger, 11:30am
Come watch some of PSU's highest profile staff take the blind water taste test! Can YOU taste the difference?

Wednesday, Apr 8
Portland Water Bureau Speaker
SMSU 238, 7:00pm
Come listen to Briggy Thomas, the Education Program Manager at Portland Water Bureau give a one-hour presentation on the water cycle from the perspective of a drop of water. This presentation will discuss where our water comes from in the Pacific Northwest and Bull Run in particular, and there will be a powerpoint presentation with graphics talking about climate issues, water quality issues, conservation methods, and Portland's status on ending bottled water.

Thursday, Apr 9
Water Sustainability Art Competition and Reception
SMSU 298, 6:30pm
What does water sustainability mean to you? Join in on PSU's first annual Art for Sustainability night! Contribute to the One-Hour-Creations contest- while timing yourself for one hour, create a piece of artwork (in any medium that you wish) that represents what water sustainability means to you. Bring your piece to the event for others to see! If you're not an artist, come look at others' art, join in on discussions about water sustainability, and enjoy snacks from Food for Thought! Please come, and BRING FRIENDS!

Friday, Apr 10
Movie showing of the amazing documentary FLOW
5th Avenue Cinema, 7:00pm
Following the film, there will be a presentation by Nancy Matella from Food and Water Watch!

And... all week from 10 am to 2 pm:
Also, there will be a Take Back the Tap table between Smith and Neuberger. At the table, PSU students can buy a Klean Kanteen and learn more on how to become a more conscious consumer when it comes to water.

COME VOLUNTEER AT THIS TABLE! It will be a fun and great learning experience for everyone! Email Lisa Meersman if you are interested (lisameersman@hotmail.com).

We need lots of support at all these events, so please come to any or all of them!


Earth Day Fair volunteer opportunities
The Environmental Club is hosting an Earth Day Fair on Wednesday, April 22 from 11 to 3. We have invited a ton of sustainability groups to table with us in the Park Blocks. Last year, this turned out awesome despite a little bit of rain. We're hoping to make it awesome again this year!

But we need some help with:

• getting donations for a raffle! At the fair, people can enter the raffle by writing a letter to one of our legislators asking them to support a variety of environmental issues (we will provide a list of suggestions). Each letter earns two tickets. We will be providing envelopes, stamps, paper, and legislators' addresses. So we need help getting donations to encourage people to write letters. If you are interested in stopping by any of the following places and helping us obtain donations like gift certificates, bike parts, books, etc, let us know!
• local breweries
• restaurants
• bike shops
• food co-ops
• bookstores, don't forget PSU's!
• coffee shops
• grocery stores (like the downtown Safeway or Whole Foods)
• setting up a planting table! We have a bunch of seeds, egg crates & pots, and soil, so to encourage people to grow their own food, we will be having a planting table where people can make their own starters.
• We need someone to be at the table helping people on Earth Day (Wednesday), Apr 22, from 11 to 3
• We also need someone with a vehicle to help PJ pick up some potting soil and egg crates and transport them to the school before Earth Day.
• We need help cutting up the egg crates so they're in groups of 4!
• We also need some help writing, printing, & cutting instruction sheets for each type of seed
• helping us create a giant poster of "individuals add up! ways to reduce your carbon footprint". The poster will be like a bar graph. On the horizontal axis, there will be a list of some things people can do to reduce their carbon footprint. On the vertical axis, there will be lines indicating how much CO2 is reduced! Above each item on the horizontal axis, we will fill in the vertical bars as people verbally commit to doing this or that. The goal is to show how little actions with a lot of people add up!

Tryon Farm Permaculture Design Course and Immersion Program
Permaculture Design Course at TLC Farm
http://tryonfarm.org/share/pdc
TLC Farm will be hosting a full 72-hour Permaculture Design Course this summer. This course will be a two-week non-residential intensive that will meet from June 23rd to July 7th, in conjunction with the Sustainable Community Immersion program. The fee for the course is $850-1000 sliding scale. Limited work trade may be available.

Summer Sustainable Communities Immersion Program
http://tryonfarm.org/share/node/683
Located at TLC Farm's unique seven-acre community farm in Portland, Oregon, this internship program will inspire dynamic leaders in the sustainability movement who will be able to use their new skills and knowledge to benefit their home communities. TLC Farm's internship program consists of two summer sessions, and each session will immerse ten interns, 18 and older, in a hands-on, holistic approach to sustainable living and community.


Invasive plants Google map
One of the members of our listserv completed a website with a map & info on all the invasive plants found on PSU's campus for her ESM class - Ecology and Management of Biological Invasions (585). It's pretty interesting. Check it out: http://psuinvasiveplants.blogspot.com/


Power Down for the Planet - sign the pledge!
We are now in week 2 of Power Down for the Planet competition!! I also hope you all have signed the pledge at http://www.powerdownfortheplanet.org/pledge!

As of now, PSU is in fourth for pledges, but schools are catching up quickly, and we are losing our lead! In an effort to increase student pledges, tabling has been set up in Parkway North from 10 to 2 for 4/8, 4/13, 4/14, 4/16, 4/17. Anybody free to table? Tabling will consist of sitting there, attempting to flag down people to sign the pledge and chatting with students/staff about energy type stuff. Two laptops have been secured with wireless access. These laptops will be set up on the table for students to quickly sign the pledge. Reply to this email (at ecpsu@pdx.edu) if you are interested in helping out. But at least sign the pledge!


Portland: 3rd least wasteful city!
Portland is America’s third-least wasteful city, according to a study.
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/03/30/daily13.html

Some other excerpts:

The study found overall that 78 percent of Portland residents consider themselves to be “eco-conscious,” 88 percent plan on being more environmentally conscious in the next year and 57 percent think their city is on the right track to becoming more environmentally responsible.

Portland ranked first for using reusable containers....

San Francisco ranked No. 1 overall and Atlanta ranked last.


Flowers & leaves are appearing everywhere. Don't forget to do your homework amidst the sunshine!